Drivers of Magnetic Field Amplification at Oblique Shocks: In-Situ Observations

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Madanian, Hadi, Gingell, Imogen, Chen, Li-Jen, Monyek, Eli
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Madanian, Hadi
Gingell, Imogen
Chen, Li-Jen
Monyek, Eli
author_facet Madanian, Hadi
Gingell, Imogen
Chen, Li-Jen
Monyek, Eli
contents Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous structures throughout the universe. Shock waves in space and astrophysical plasmas convert the energy of a fast-flowing plasma to other forms of energy, including thermal and magnetic energies. Plasma turbulence and high-amplitude electric and magnetic fluctuations are necessary for effective energy conversion and particle acceleration. We survey and characterize in-situ observations of reflected ions and magnetic field amplification rates at quasi-perpendicular shocks under a wide range of upstream conditions. We report magnetic amplification factors as high as 25 times the upstream magnetic field in our current dataset. Reflected ions interacting with the incoming plasma create magnetic perturbations which cause magnetic amplification in upstream and downstream regions of quasi-perpendicular shocks. Our observations show that in general magnetic amplification increases with the fraction of reflected ions, which itself increases with Mach number. Both parameters plateau once full reflection is reached. Magnetic amplification continuously increases with the inverse of the magnetization parameter of the upstream plasma. We find that the extended foot region upstream of shocks and nonlinear processes within that region are key factors for intense magnetic amplification. Our observations at non-relativistic shocks provide the first experimental evidence that below a certain magnetization threshold, the magnetic amplification efficiency at quasi-perpendicular shocks becomes comparable to that at the quasi-parallel shocks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_02014
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Drivers of Magnetic Field Amplification at Oblique Shocks: In-Situ Observations
Madanian, Hadi
Gingell, Imogen
Chen, Li-Jen
Monyek, Eli
Plasma Physics
Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous structures throughout the universe. Shock waves in space and astrophysical plasmas convert the energy of a fast-flowing plasma to other forms of energy, including thermal and magnetic energies. Plasma turbulence and high-amplitude electric and magnetic fluctuations are necessary for effective energy conversion and particle acceleration. We survey and characterize in-situ observations of reflected ions and magnetic field amplification rates at quasi-perpendicular shocks under a wide range of upstream conditions. We report magnetic amplification factors as high as 25 times the upstream magnetic field in our current dataset. Reflected ions interacting with the incoming plasma create magnetic perturbations which cause magnetic amplification in upstream and downstream regions of quasi-perpendicular shocks. Our observations show that in general magnetic amplification increases with the fraction of reflected ions, which itself increases with Mach number. Both parameters plateau once full reflection is reached. Magnetic amplification continuously increases with the inverse of the magnetization parameter of the upstream plasma. We find that the extended foot region upstream of shocks and nonlinear processes within that region are key factors for intense magnetic amplification. Our observations at non-relativistic shocks provide the first experimental evidence that below a certain magnetization threshold, the magnetic amplification efficiency at quasi-perpendicular shocks becomes comparable to that at the quasi-parallel shocks.
title Drivers of Magnetic Field Amplification at Oblique Shocks: In-Situ Observations
topic Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.02014